Since none of the light guru's have jumped in, the quick answer is yes, only the foliage needs to be lit, not the blooms.

There are currently a couple of threads running (85 watt cfl's and Clara what lights) on the board right now. Most of that info will be useful to you when your collection grows to mass amounts :>) Then you will have to make the decision if you are going to spend your $$$$ on orchids or hosta,

Welcome to the orchid forum jel48.

Brooke

Thank you, Brooke! For the information and for the welcome. Hmmmm..... orchids or hosta or bird feeders or photography equipment or computer equipment or..... yes, just what I needed was another new hobby to spend my hard earned $$$$s on! They are beautiful though. I have six orchids sitting in my living room window. They've been happily blooming there for over a month now, and are as beautiful as the day I brought them home!

You're welcome jel48. You can only garden in the summer and eventually you run out of room (or energy). Photography, computer equipment and bird feeders only need to be upgraded on occasion. Orchids you can play with year round and enjoy their beauty when other hobbies are static.

Brooke

Hey, Jel,

Yes, welcome to the Forum! There are 2-3 of us from Minnesota here.

One of the recent threads Brooke mentioned actually is "Anyone grow with 55 watt CFLs? Any good?" Brooke, you said 85W, which have been discussed a lot in the thread about Clara - what lights.

The distance between your plant leaves and lights depends in part on what type lights you ordered - fluorescent tubes, maybe? Also, what direction does your picture window face? What type orchids do you have?

All these variables can affect how happy the orchids are, long-term.

Keep us posted.

Whitecat8

Hi Whitecat,

I believe my orchids are Phalaenopsis. According to the faq on the forum, their light needs are low to medium and the faq describes low and medium light as:

"Low Light = 1,000 Â 2,000 foot-candles, two hours of filtered sunlight per day, 14 hours of fluorescent light within 8 inches of the tubes. These plants can be grown indoors under indirect light or outdoors under shade.

Medium Light = 2,000 Â 3,000 foot-candles, four hours of sunlight per day, 16 hours of fluorescent light within 6 inches of the tubes. Outside, moderately sunny windows or under lights would be suitable."

My orchids are in an east facing window (mostly shaded in summer but less so now, because I have a large oak tree in the middle of the front yard but slightly to the left (north) of the window). These are the lights I got for them - http://buyplantlights.com/tabletop_stands.php#f2020l but I don't see any indication of how much light the bulbs that shipped with them provide.

I think they are doing pretty well, although I've only had the lights about a week (they had 3 weeks in the east window with no additional lights). I've posted pictures (link below). As you look through then, the third 'leaf' picture has one with leaves that don't look as healthy as the others, at least I don't think so. It's the left one in the pic. I'd be interested in hearing whether you and some of the others here (who actually know something about orchids :-) agree with that assessment.

Joyce - jel48

Here is a link that might be useful: my orchids

Welcome to the forum. The light FAQ needs a sore re-write in the light department. Consider the FAQ bare minimum light to limp a plant along in for winter or nurse a sick plant back to health. Your plants will not thrive in it. This board tends to grow in high indoor light. You can go to the gallery to see the results. The current posts on cfl's may be a real head scratcher for ya right now. Not needed with sick phals.

An East facing obstructed window is not enough light in MN. I see that your plants are underlight and begining to flop. Flop = root loss. Root loss comes from over/under watering. With the new folks usually over. Cut back on the water for now. Water will make it worse. Read up. Taylor's Guide to Orchids can be had for a few bucks on amazon.

Orchids are the opposite of dirt plants. Water will do further harm. When they are finished blooming, you can learn how to recover them. We'll still be here. They need it. Sorry but true. Don't disturb the now if you are new to this by repotting . They need it, not right now. Get the light on 'em and dry them up

Don't know which light set you bought. Some supplimental light will help. Won't be the complete solution. Consider at minimum a 28wcfl or 2 to add to the light truck. Home Depot (HD). Phals need heat. cfl's will help. You don't state temps, light duration any other conditions. These are tropical plants. Good that you care enough to invest.

Leave them for 2-3 weeks, maybe a month in the new light truck. They need to adjust to the light increase. Your new light will help the dry out a little. Then make a run to HD.
Mike

Joyce I looked at your pics and the plants seem healthy and happy. The one leaf you question appears to be just a typical old leaf getting ready to expire. Your roots appear firm and healthy. I don't see any flop in the leaves that Mike saw - it appears normal to me from that type of leaf. I see no dissecation or wrinkling to indicate any trouble below.

If your east window is now unobstructed and you are supplying some light to the plant, they should do fine. You have the beginnings of some very nice plants.

Brooke

I agree with Mike. His advise is really well done. Those plants have loss and are underlight but you are working on that! I wouldn't add anything to it. I re-hab a lot of phals for people. I see the leaves in your pics. You will need to do a little work on them when they are finished blooming. At least they won't be in hopeless condition now that you have an alert. Nice timing! They are tough plants so not to worry. The light will help. How often are you watering? We will be here when you are ready.

Clara

Thanks everyone! Mike and Clara, I'm pretty sure they're not over watered. I was warned about that right up front before I ever bought. So far, I've watered when I can push my finger down to the knuckle and it's dry. If there's moisture I don't water. I think I've watered them 3 times in the month since I brought them home. Lack of light, yes probably, for the first three weeks. The lights I put on them are some sort of fluorescent grow lights, but I hadn't realized there was such a varieity in strength of the lights. I grow seedlings (hosta and other perennial and veggie) and I use the cheapo shop lights on them with good results. I light those 24x7 and haven't had any problem. I guess I'll see how they do with the lights that are on them now, look at some pics, read up, and then maybe add more lights in a month or so if they don't seem to be thriving.

Brooke, thanks for the feedback on that one leaf. The reason I had asked was that it just didn't seem so 'alive' as the rest and your suggestion makes perfect sense.

Ahhh... Mike, I see where you got the over watered idea. I just looked back at my orchid pics and can see the wet look in some of the pots. That's because I had just watered them before taking the pics. But the last time they were watered was 8-9 days before.

They will probably be fine under some shop lights. Phals like warmth so I would suggest caution having them so close to the window over winter. Pull them back and put some lights overhead. Your watering sounds fine and the plants look pretty good.

Jane